I think that now is a good time to pose a more difficult and/or sensitive question. I live in a part of Toronto that is close to a medium sized mosque which has been undergoing renovation for a year now. It is almost finished and looks quite impressive, including a minaret (see picture):
Not bad looking eh? Well, the neighbourhood used to be a staunch Italian/Greek mixture, but now has transitioned to a predominantly Pakistani (?) Muslim area, repleat with Halal meat shops, grocers and (some of the best) shawarma joints in town. Not to mention the increasing traffic headaches as the mosque seems to encourage double parking and sudden u-turns of old Toyota Previas at unpredictable times of the day.
So this is leading to the usual issues of transitional neighbourhoods, lack of understanding etc. The number of homes that have given over to the new demographic in the are has been a cause for concern around poperty values, over crowding and ghettoization (in the geographic term).
I have heard discussions, both ad hoc and on talk radio, that there is increasing sentiment here that recent Muslim immigrants are less tolerant than the society that is welcoming them. That the intent of Islam is to eventually overcome the world through propogation.
That local culture will be supplanted by special interest groups lobbying for legal changes to law (eg Ontario looking into allowing sharia law) and even the loss of cultural icons (the christmas tree, hockey arenas etc) to islamic lobbyers. I heard that the gay community in Holland is under retreat from their freedoms due to the increased political power of muslims in that country.
What is your take on the perceptions of Islam in the west, and why is there such a distintion between the west and Islam? Historically I think that the west benefited from the bounty of the golden age of Islamic thought and culture.
I have a feeling that it is less of a problem of religion and more of an issue with the culture of the middle east, southern asian area relative to North America/Europe.